Are You Happy Now
by Broken Violet
Summary: Jack had made her a promise he hadn't been able to keep. But now, it seemed he would fulfilling it in a rather strange way.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

_Quietly the world continued to spin. Loudly people continued to live their lives. And quickly, her world was falling apart._

Jack sat, looking over at the young brunette who sat silently in the corner of the room, her eyes lifeless. She had once been a beautiful, vibrant, and sweet girl. But all of that had long since faded away, and what was left was a dead human, with a heart that still somehow continued to beat.

It had been just over a year since he died, and she hadn't been the same since. At first she had sobbed. For hours every day she had cried, always cursing at herself. Jack had tried to comfort her, holding her tightly in his arms, stroking her hair as he uselessly attempted to whisper comforting words to her.

He had thought that was the worst things could get. He was wrong.

She soon became nothing more than a robot, rarely eating, never talking, and always with eyes like that of a dead person. It wasn't until then that Jack realized how powerless he actually was. Nothing he did helped her, and most of the time, he didn't think she was even aware he was in the room. He could do nothing.

"Elli," Jack said tenderly, walking over to where his frail wife sat, "I'm going out," he paused for a moment, waiting for a reply, even though he knew he would get none. "I'll be back soon."

Leaning down, he kissed her forehead lightly. "I love you." He told her as he stroked her hair, before stepping back and walking out the door.

It was the middle of summer and the sky was blue, while the sun was warm as it hung high in the sky. The scene didn't match the heavy aura he had just walked away from. Even if the seasons changed, and time moved forward, it seemed some things would always be stuck in the past.

Sighing, Jack stood up straight and hoisted his heavy rucksack onto his back.

He had many things to do today. His animals had recently given birth, his vegetables needed to be harvested, and he had yet to go check up on Ellen, who lived quietly alone in her house.

If he didn't hurry, he wouldn't be back home until late. Although Elli no longer asked him to be safe and come home early like she had in their earlier years of marriage, he still tried to follow her now faded commands.

Before he began work though, he walked stealth fully down to the Goddess Pond. It had become a habit in the past year for him to visit, giving offerings to the Goddess who supposedly lived there.

Jack saw it as a ray of light. Believing in something called hope. Believing that maybe, even if he couldn't, someone could help fix everything that had gone wrong. So far, nothing had happened though, and that ray of light had long since clouded over. But still, he pointlessly tried.

Leaning down by the pond, he looked into the clean, glistening blue water.

_Help._ He begged, squeezing his hand into a fist. He couldn't do this alone anymore. He loved her, and she needed help. Help he couldn't provide.

There was silence. Silence. Silence. He had had enough of silence for the past year.

"Help!" he yelled, splashing the water angrily with his hand.

The water he splashed raised high into the air. Higher and higher it went, and along with it came the rest of the water in the pond, swirling violently in the air like a tornado. The trees blew back and forth ferociously, and the wind whistled, pushing a confused and bewildered Jack down roughly to the ground.

And then, everything stopped.

The wind died and like a water fall, the water came crashing down. But in its place, a beautiful woman stood, hovering in the air.

She was tall and thin, with long green hair that flowed effortlessly in the nonexistent wind. She had pale skin, with small, light green designs decorating her arms and face. They looked like words, in a language Jack didn't know. It was a magical kind of beauty.

"Jack," she said, her voice like the wind.

He nodded, stunned, confused, and above everything else, scared.

"You want my help."

It wasn't a question, but Jack felt obligated to answer none-the-less. "P-please."

The woman looked down at him, smiling kindly. It confused him, considering the next words spoken from her lips. "Are you willing to give your life in return?" She asked him.

He paused for a moment, but out of fear and confusion, not hesitation. "Y-you already know my answer," he told her, finally able to bring himself to stand.

He was correct, she did know his answer. She had heard and seen him for over a year now, and listened to his cries for help and mercy.

And he knew, that he would give much more than his life for her, his wife. He knew he wasn't the one she needed, and he was willing to die if that's what it took to save her from this woman she had become.

"Die?" The Harvest Goddess said, her laugh like the sound of bells. "I don't _murder_ people. But I can't give a life without taking one. You will simply become the person she needs."

And before he could ask her what she meant, everything went black.

* * *

I don't think I've ever been more excited to write a story before. I really hope you liked this chapter. And hopefully I can write the next chapter soon and have it posted. Spring Break is finally here, so I think I'll have lots of writing time. Also, any reviews you have for me, I'd love to read.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

His head pulsed, pain surging through his entire body. He couldn't move. Why couldn't he move? Voices, pictures, and colors started streaming through his vision and ears, blurring together, like a movie on rewind.

_"Elli, Elli!" _

Her face flashed everywhere, smiling, laughing, blushing, crying. Every moment they'd ever had together.

_"He's dead! Jack he's dead, I might have well as killed him. Jack, he's dead." _

Tears, falling, but the picture, the image, the memory didn't last long, quickly switching and changing from one to another.

_"Let's make a happy family!"_

Happy family. Happy. Such hopeful words. He hadn't been able to keep the promise they had made. He hadn't made a happy family. Happy. Happy.

_"Jack…I love you."_

She loved him. Love. Love. What was love? Happy.

_"I'm going to go tell grandma about the wedding! I'm sure she and Stu will be so happy for me."_

Happy. Wedding. Happy. Happy.

_"Welcome, are you not feeling well?"_

Welcome. Welcome.

_"You're giving this to me? Thank you, it makes me so happy!"_

Happy. Happy.

_"You must be that new fellow at the farm, right?"_

New. Happy. Farm. That was him. Right?

Happy. Happy. Happy.

Happy. Happy.

Happy.

…

Nothing.

Slowly he opened his eyes, everything around him fuzzy, as if he were looking through tinted windows. He rubbed his eyes, and looked again, confused. He was in a house, a home, but one that was not his own. He lay in an unfamiliar bed, covered in yellow sheets he had never seen before.

No, the bed was not completely unfamiliar, and he oddly recognized the worn-out yellow sheets that lay wrapped around him. He looked again as he heaved a sigh of relief. It was Elli's grandmother's home. She was a kind old woman, who had been living alone for the past year, ever since the accident had occurred.

But Jack was less interested in why he was here, or how he had gotten here at all, and more interested in what had happened before he had blacked out. The memory was like a distant one, leading him to believe that it may have all been a dream.

But he doubted that.

The feelings he had had were too strong, too intense to have been made up by his mind. Dreams didn't feel that real.

Quickly though, he threw his legs over the bed, remembering where he was. He had to get home to Elli. He could worry about everything else at another time. Elli was his main priority.

He had been gone all night, which would mean she hadn't had lunch or dinner. She would be starving by now, and the last thing her already weak body needed was to be deprived of any more nutrients.

But as he stood, everything around him began to spin, blurring into one large blob. His legs went weak and he tumbled down, falling heavily to the ground. He closed his eyes tightly, doing the best he could not to vomit all over Ellen's carpet.

"He's finally up!" someone yelled out worriedly. Jack's head shot up immediately at the call. But it was less what they said that caught his attention, as it was the voice that had called it.

"…Elli?" he asked in wonder, trying his best to stop his world from spinning. He wasn't sure when the last time he had heard her voice was, his own wife's voice had become such a rarity.

"Are you okay?" She asked, as she leaned down next to him, her warm hands on his shoulder, "You're sick, you have a fever. Let's go to the Doctor's office."

Jack smiled, his vision still unfocussed, but her voice and hands enough to keep him happy for a lifetime.

"Elli," he said again as he grabbed her hand, tears threatening to come from his eyes.

_Thank you,_ he said in his head. He knew the Goddess, that whatever she had done, she had done something. And something incredible. It was the same thing he had been trying to do for the past year, and had always failed at. _Thank you_, he told her again. Elli was talking, speaking, and worrying pointlessly over him. She had made Elli, Elli again.

"Stu, you're sick. Now come on, we're going to take you to the Clinic."

Jack's vision cleared, and he looked up at Elli, as everything that was happening became clear as well.

No, he took it back. This was not what he had been trying to do at all.

* * *

I'm having so much fun writing this story, seriously. I'll try to start chapter three tonight. Any reviews you have for me, I'd love to read. They always make my day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Life had an odd way with things. Life thought it was funny, playing cruel tricks on small, innocent, and helpless farmers. Jack had an unfriendly word or two he would have liked to share with life.

"Hmm, you seem okay. Maybe a slight cold, but nothing too serious," the Doctor said, removing the small wooden stick from Jack's mouth. "Do you feel okay, Stu?"

"I'm fine," Jack said flatly, glaring angrily at nothing in particular.

"…Okay. Well then, why don't you run on home to Elli and Ellen? I'm sure they're both worried about you."

_Elli._

Jack's heart skipped a beat as the name resounded in his head.

He was terrible wasn't he? Elli was happy. She was still the woman with bright eyes and a bright smile that he had fallen in love with many years ago. And yet here he sat, sulking. Even though this was what he had asked for.

The Harvest Goddess's words rung in his head.

"_Are you willing to give your life in return?"_

So this was what she had meant. He had assumed she was speaking of death. Death seemed more understandable, more convenient – easier. If only he had been fortunate enough to die.

And didn't what he was doing, living as someone else, seem wrong? It was deceptive. The real Stu was gone. Dead. He was as dead as he had been before Jack had ever gone to see the Harvest Goddess.

He couldn't live someone else's life.

"Yeah, I'll go home," Jack said, jumping down from the desk he had been sitting on.

Looking at everything as a child was actually quite frightening. Everything was bigger, everything was taller. The Doctor, who Jack had always looked at eye-to-eye, now stood, hovering feet above him.

"Can you make it to your house alone? Or would you like me to take you there?" The doctor asked, following Jack as he walked out of the office.

"I'm fine, Trent," he said, waving a hand in the air.

The doctor looked after him as he walked away, a puzzled expression on his face. Stu had never called him Trent before.

Jack didn't go back to Ellen's house like he said he would. Instead, he walked quickly down to his farm. But what he found there was nothing more than a large field, littered with weeds and tree stumps. His home, his crops, his animals, they were nowhere to be found. This only added to his confusion.

But he didn't dawdle long on the farm, wondering what was happening. He had to go to her.

Though once he arrived at the Goddess pond, he became afraid. He wasn't sure what it was he wanted, or what he planned to ask of her. He didn't want to live like this. But he didn't want to go back to the Elli who didn't laugh, smile or cry. He wanted everyone to be happy. He didn't understand why that was such a hard request.

Leaning down, he picked up a small, newly bloomed, pink flower from the grass beside the pond. Elli liked flowers, surely the Goddess did too.

He wasn't sucking up to her, just trying to get on her good side before he complained about the gift she had given him.

Slowly he reached out, and dropped the flower into the pond. It rested on the top for a moment, before it was pulled into the water below, hidden by a layer of blue.

And before Jack knew it, the Goddess was floating in front of him, her long green hair that flowed in the wind, almost close enough for him to reach out and touch.

Jack was glad that her appearance was much less of a commotion than one before had been. The water and wind from earlier had frightened him, making him think that the Goddess was angry. The serene and beautiful woman that was facing him now, gave off the feeling of nothing but kindness.

"Stu," she said as she cocked her to the side, smiling gently.

"Jack," he corrected, beginning to wonder if she remembered what had taken place the day before, since obviously no one else did.

"If you'd prefer me call you that. So, Jack, what is it that brings you here today?"

He paused as he bit his lip, considering what to say, but she spoke again before he had to answer.

"Are you not happy?"

Jack looked up quickly, "That's not the problem. It's just…this isn't what I had been thinking of when I asked for help."

"Did you not ask for Elli to be happy?" She inquired, turning her head to the side as if she were confused.

"Yes."

"Isn't Elli happy?"

Jack thought back to when he had awoken. He had heard her voice, the voice that was lined with worry for him. He thought back to how he had looked into her un-haunted eyes. He knew it was _her_ he had seen, the joyful Elli he had missed for so long. She was happy, he knew that as well.

The not so distant memory tugged at his mouth, and brought a small smile to his face.

"Yes."

"Then tell me, what is it you would like me to do?" She asked him.

Jack looked up at her, and then down at his small un-calloused hands. This wasn't a life he would have chosen for himself. This wasn't what he had wanted or planned for. But this was what was best. This was what was best for Elli.

No matter how much it hurt him to admit, it wasn't Jack she needed. It was Stu. She needed that young mischievous, sweet, playful little boy. She needed her brother.

Jack looked over at the Goddess and smiled sadly.

"Nothing."

* * *

I had a hard time trying to decide how to have Jack react about all this. But I finally decided to stop trying and just let Jack do what he wanted, and this is what came out.

And if I'm not lazy, I'll start chapter four tonight. I'm probably gonna be lazy though and start it tomorrow. It's Spring Break, so I can do whatever I want whenever I want. -dances-


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

This was undeniably weird.

Sitting, legs crossed on the couch, Jack looked intently at Elli. She stood behind the counter, flipping through a stack of papers in front of her, all the while chewing absent mindedly at her lip.

This was more than undeniably weird. This was unbelievably strange.

Stopping suddenly, she sat the papers down on the desk in front of her. Turning her head, she locked her eyes with Jack's. Neither of their gazes wavered.

"Stu," she said, perhaps the slightest edge of annoyance, or perhaps it was worry, in her voice. "Why are you still here?"

Why was he here? It seemed so obvious to him. She was walking and talking. He had even caught her laughing. Wasn't that more than reason enough for him to want to sit and stare at her all day long?

But instead he gave her a much simpler answer, one that she would understand. Yet one that was still true.

"I don't know what else to do," he told her, holding back a grin. They were having a conversation. It was small, but made him irrevocably happy none-the-less.

She gave him a skeptical glance. Rarely did Stu not have _something_ he wanted to do.

"Why don't you go play outside with May?" she asked, turning back to the papers in front of her.

Jack would have to pass on that idea. He highly doubted that May would find him a very fun or interesting play mate. Working hard long hours on the farm, and living in a house that was constantly surrounded with the feeling of dismay had more than likely taken its toll on his once exuberant personality.

And anyways, he'd much rather stay with Elli.

He sighed internally. Though that was the kind of things he would have to do, wasn't it? He was only now realizing that living as someone else meant acting like them as well. He wondered if he could do that—act as his wife's younger brother.

He doubted it.

Stu was a child. He was a man. Although that argument wouldn't hold up against much of anyone, considering he was sitting inside a four foot tall little boy with a bowl cut hairstyle, and baby fat still clinging onto every part of his body.

It made him wonder though, whether this was a blessing disguised as a curse, or a curse disguised as a blessing. He sure hoped it was the first of the two.

Though he thought that more than likely, it was the second. A curse disguised as a blessing. He was the curse. And he was disguised as Stu, the blessing. He doubted that if Elli knew that the little boy she talked to, was not the same little boy she had loved for so long, that she would still be happy.

And that was why the curse had to be kept secret, always hidden and wrapped inside the blessing. Never let out. Never seen by anyone but himself. Forever a secret.

He was willing to do it. For Elli, that is. For Elli he was willing to do it.

"Elli," Jack said, standing up, rejoicing inside as she responded to his call by looking over at him, something that had not happened so naturally for longer than he would like to remember. "I'm gonna go back to Grandma's house."

The words came out oddly from his mouth, like they were forced and foreign. Though Elli didn't seem to notice, as she merely smiled and nodded, "I'm sure she'd like some company," she told him.

He smiled back at her. "Yeah," He said, before walking out the door, painfully leaving Elli behind.

But he knew he'd be able to see her later today. And tomorrow. And hopefully a week from now. But as it turned out, not all of it would be so happy.

* * *

Very little happened this chapter, but I thought it needed to be in the story none-the-less. And it's short! Way too short. Minuscule. Oh well. ;)


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

It hadn't even been a full two hours since Jack had been sent away from the clinic, yet he had already found numerous excuses to go back and see Elli.

"_I have a scratch, Elli, can I have a band aid?"_

"_I think Ellen isn't feeling well."_

"_I'm hungry. Can you bake me something tonight?"_

"_Look, I found a bug."_

And many times, it had resulted in a very angry Elli. Especially the time she had dropped all her work and raced home, only to find Ellen sitting in her chair, feeling perfectly fine. Every time after that, Jack had been ordered back home with a very unkind glare sent his way.

He felt childish, using such excuses to see her. And he also felt much like the boy who cried a wolf. But for some reason or another, he didn't care. He was in a child's body, so he reasoned with himself that it was only normal to pretend to be childish. Whether this reasoning was valid or not, didn't much matter to him. It was enough to satisfy his next visit to see her.

But really, he only wanted to watch her. He simply, no matter how masochistic is sounded, enjoyed the anger she threw his way, because it was just yet another emotion he had almost completely forgotten she had. So he savored it as well as he could.

Though still, by far, her smiling face was best. And so, as he walked back down to the clinic, for the fifth or sixth time that day, he prepared a much more subtle plan that would not make her quite so angry.

Reaching out, he opened the door to the clinic slowly, and poked his head inside, to find Elli working diligently like always. She looked up with a smile, which quickly turned to flat line when she saw who it was who had walked through the door again.

"Stu," she said warningly as Jack padded his way over to where she sat behind the counter.

"I'm not going to do anything," he told her, the smallest of grins on his face as he braced himself on the countertop, trying his best to become eye to eye with Elli.

He waited quietly and expectantly for her to reply, but she merely held her untrusting gaze. He didn't like the silence between them, and her refusal to answer. It reminded him far too much of the past year. So he quickly continued.

"I thought you, me and Ell—Grandma, could have a picnic," he suggested anxiously, hoping she wouldn't turn him down right away, and at least mull over the offer.

"You know Grandma can't move around well. And Trent has advised her to not do anything strenuous," she told him.

Jack had already thought about this. Or more correctly, remembered this. The conversation they were having now was not too different than one they had had many years ago, back even before they were married.

_"We should all go on a picnic, Stu and Ellen and of course you and me. I'll make the meal. And I'll bring strawberries," _he'd said, trying to bribe her.

She'd laughed, _"It would be fun. But Ellen is sickly, and she's not supposed to walk very far."_

He replied now the same as he had then, "Then we can have it right outside the house. She won't have to move at all."

She looked at him suspiciously, before she closed her eyes, letting the suggestion hang in the air for a few moments longer. "Okay." She finally said, opening her eyes back up and letting a smile cross her lips.

Jack smiled back up. It wasn't quite the excited reply he had gotten from her many years past, but it was a yes none-the-less.

"Okay," he echoed.

* * *

It's been a while since my last update. And my chapters keep seeming to get shorter. But motivation to write anything has been scarce lately, so I'm just happy I was able to type out _something _for this.


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